Restoring the Texas White House: The NPS Director’s 2024 Visit

From left: NPS Director Chuck Sams, project manager Mike Shoup and park superintendent Christine Jacobs listen as Clint Herriman, the park's integrated resources program manager, describes conservation work at the Texas White House. NPS photo / Cynthia Dorminey.

During National Park Week in April 2024, National Park Service Director Chuck Sams visited Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park to see the extensive renovation of the Texas White House. He was briefed on the project's progress and on how it will help preserve the historic buildings and share the story of President Johnson, his family and their accomplishments.

The project, as of April 2024

• The Texas White House closed to the public in 2018 because of structural and mold problems.
• A multiyear rehabilitation is funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund and other sources.
• Since construction began on January 2, the contractor had carefully removed obsolete heating and cooling systems from the house and the Airplane Hangar to make way for modern ones.
• Museum staff were conserving more than 10,000 historical artifacts removed from the house for safekeeping.
• Upcoming work included stabilizing the historic communications trailers and switchboard building, and rehabilitating the Hangar, which serves as the LBJ Ranch Visitor Center.
• The complex was expected to reopen in late 2025, once construction was finished and the buildings restaged; a new interpretive experience and exhibits for the Hangar were being designed.

The Great American Outdoors Act

GAOA is part of a concerted effort to tackle the large maintenance and repair backlog in national parks. Funded by revenue from energy development, it provides up to $1.3 billion a year for five years for major improvements that preserve parks and expand recreation, education and enjoyment for current and future visitors.

Sources

Based on "April 23, 2024: NPS Director Visits Texas White House Rehabilitation Project," Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.